Cargo container lifting hook

ABSTRACT

An ocean cargo container lifting hook for alternative use with cargo containers having standard ASA (American Standards Association now American National Standards Institute) or ISO (International Standards Organization) corner fittings. The hook includes a shaft for engaging an opening in either one of the two standard fittings and means for automatically and positively retaining the shaft, and therewith the hook, to the fitting when container weight is suspended from the hook.

United States Patent 11 1 Shields 14 1 Feb. 19, 1974 CARGO CONTAINER LIFTING HOOK [75] Inventor: Charles J. Shields, Oakland, Calif.

[73] Assignee: States Steamship Company, San

Francisco, Calif.

22 Filed: Oct. 6, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 186,880

521 US. Cl. 294/82 R, 294/78 R 51 Int. Cl. 1366c 1/66 [58] Field of Search ..294/67 D, 67 DA, 67 DB, 294/67 E, 67 EA, 74, 78 R, 82 R;

12305 R, QMLHJ 2&525

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,959,985 5 1934 Moll 294 74 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 390,717 11 1921 Germany .Q 294/67 E 1,043,397 ll/l953 France ..294/67E Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant ExaminerJohnny D. Cherry Attorney, Agent, or FirmTownsend and Townsend [5 7] ABSTRACT An ocean cargo container lifting hook for alternative use with cargo containers having standard ASA (American Standards Association now American National Standards Institute) or ISO (lntemational Standards Organization) corner fittings. The hook includes a shaft for engaging an opening in either one of the two standard fittings and means for automatically and positively retaining the shaft, and therewith the hook, to the fitting when container weight is suspended from the hook.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIEMEH EM M 3.792.892

FlG 7 I FIG..6

INVENTOR CHARLES J. SHIELDS BY maw MTWJ ATTORNEYS 1 CARGO CONTAINER LIF TING HOOK BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION Cost savings make the use of large cargo containers more and more prevalent. As compared to older shipping methods, cargo container shipping greatly reduces the cost of loading and unloading ocean liners. The large containers, ranging in size to up to 40 feet, are merely attached to a hoist and lifted from the ship.

For maximum loading and unloading efficiency, it is necessary to eliminate all-possible down times such as the need for changing lifting gear and the like.

Safety considerations require that lifting hooks ex-' tended into the holes of the corner fittings be positively retained to the fittings while container weight is suspended from the hooks. In the past, this required the provision of two types of hooks. Each hook had a main body secured to a lifting cable or the like, a transversely extendinglifting shaft, and depending from the free shaft end, a nose whichwould automatically engage the inner side of the corner fitting when the hook engages the fitting and lifts the container. Since a ship has randomly dispersed throughout its loading space containers with either one of the fittings frequent change-overs in the lifting gear to adapt the lifting hooks to be encountered corner fittings are-necessary. This is time consuming and adds to loading and unloading costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a lifting hook for lifting ocean cargo containers and the like by engaging lifting holes in container corner fittings. The hook includes means for automatically and alternatively engaging and therewith positively retaining itself to either an ASA or an ISO corner fitting.

Generally speaking, a lifting hook constructed in accordance with the invention comprises a main body, a surface for placement against the container and a stub or shaft projecting transversely from the surface and disposed at the lower end of the hook. The'stub is for engaging the opening in either an ASA or an ISO standard corner fitting and has a first circularly arcuate surface extending over at least about 1 80 for engaging the opening in the ASA corner fitting and a second circularly arcuate surface extending over at least 180 for engaging the opening in an ISO fitting. The first and second circularly arcuate surfaces are eccentric with respectto each other and have like radii so that one of the surfaces is lower than the other one. The lower surface is arranged immediately adjacent the container facing surface of the hook. Means is further provided for automatically engaging an inner side of either one of the corner fittings in response to relativemove-ment between the hook and the fitting to securely retain the hook to the corner fitting while the container is lifted and render the hook simultaneously unable with either fitting, and the shaft is preferably cylindrical and includes an eccentric, upwardly facing groove that is symmetric with respect to the hook body and defines one of the arcuate surfaces. The other arcuate surface is defined by the shaft and a free end of the shaft includes a downwardly facing protrusion.

In use, the hook of the present invention always locks itself to the corner fitting when all or part of the container weight is suspended from the shaft. If the container has ASA corner fittings, the groove adjacent the planar body surface facing the container rides up until it engagesthe uppermost semi-circular end of the opening. The groove thereby automatically straddles the fitting thickness at the lifting hole, prevents movements 'of the hook in an axial shaft direction and, thereby,

locks the hook to the container.

If the hook is used with an ISO fitting, the downwardly extending nose or protrusion pivots about the shaft axis when an upward force'is applied to the 'cable' connected to the hook. The inner side of the protrusion thereby pivots behind an inner side of the fitting and thus retains the hook to the fitting in the above described manner.

Thus, can be seen that a hook constructed in accordance with the present invention enables the alternative pickup of cargo containers having ASA or ISO corner fittings. There is no need to change lifting gear. There is also no compromise of safety as would be the case if one prior art hook were employed for lifting containers having either one of the two standard fittings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a container corner fitting lifting hook constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the hook illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevational view of the lifting hole in a standard ASA corner fitting;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view and is taken on line 4-4, FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view similar to'FIG. 3 of a standard ISO fitting;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentaryside elevational view and is taken on line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic elevational view of container lifting gear fitted with hooks constructed with accordance to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG. 7, lifting gear 10 for hoisting an ocean cargo container 12 generally comprises four steel cables 14 looped through a connecting ring 16 that is placed into a hoisting hook 18 of a conventional hoist (not separately shown). The container includes comer fittings 20 that have lifting holes 22 into which stub shafts (not shown in FIG. 6) of container lifting hooks 24 fits. A hook is secured to the lower end of each cable 14 in a conventional manner such as by a poured socket engagement by means of a tapered, vertically oriented hole (not shown in FIG. 6) of the hook.

In use, the stub shaft of each container hook 24 is engaged with a lifting hole of the four top or the four bottom corner fittings and the hoist is actuated to lift the container 01? the ground for loading or unloading it on an ocean ship (not separately shown) or the like.-

3 To prevent an accidental disengagement between the stub shaft and the container lifting hook due to shock, vibration or the like, means constructed in accordance with the invention is provided to positively retain the hook in engagement with the respective container corner fitting so long as any container weight is suspended from the stub shaft.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 6, the container fitting 20 may be one of two standard types. An ASA corner fitting built into older containers, that is containers built before the adoption of the ISO standards in 1967, which have wall thicknesses at lifting hole 22 which are relatively small or the currently used standard ISO fitting used on new containers. The ISO fittings have a fitting wall thickness 2 which is substantially greater than the thickness t of the ASA fitting.

Both fittings, that is both the ASA and the ISO fittings have identical elongate lifting holes 22 that are vertically oriented on the container and terminate in a circularly arcuate upper end 26. 7

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, to assure that the container lifting hook 24 is positively retained to corner fitting 20, whether the corner fitting is an ASA or an ISO fitting, the hook is constructed as follows. It has a main body 28 that includes a vertically oriented, downwardly flared bore 30 into which a steel cable can be conventionally spliced. Alternatively an upper end 32 of the hook body may include a horizontally oriented bore (not shown) for engagement with a steel cable provided with a timble (not shown).

A stub shaft 34 extends perpendicularly away from a planar side 36 of hook body 28 and is disposed adjacent a lower end 38 of the body. The stub shaft is generally cylindrical and has a diameter slightly less than the width of lifting holes 22 in corner fittings 20. A protrusion 40 extends in a downward direction from a free end 42 of the stub shaft. The protrusion has a width no greater and preferably slightly less than the diameter of the stub shaft and includes a flat side 44 that faces towards flat body side 36. The two flat sides are parallel with respect to each other and spaced at a distance slightly greater than the thickness t of an ISO fitting at lifting hole 22.

The stub shaft also includes a depressed groove 46 that has a circularly arcuate bottom 48 of a radius equal to the radius of the remainder of the stub shaft. The groove is eccentric with respect to the stub shaft, preferably about one-fourth to three-eighths inch, and is contiguous to flat body side 36. The groove bottom faces upwardly and is symmetric with respect to the body as best seen in FIG. 2.

A flat groove side 50 is perpendicular to the stub shaft axis, parallel to protrusion side 44 and is spaced from flat body side 36 a distance slightly greater than the thickness 2 of an ASA fitting lifting hole 22.

The stub shaft and themain hook body are properly dimensioned to safely withstand all applied forces. For a lifting hook capable of lifting 12,600 pounds, and with a safety factor of about 3, the stub shaft has a diameter of 1% inches, the groove 46 is offset eccentric with respect to the remainder of the stub shaft by one fourth inch, and has a width of one-half inch. The downwardly extending protrusion 40 projects approximately one inch below the lowermost end of the stub shaft and its flat side 44 is spaced seven-eighths inch from flat body side 36. The hook is constructed of heat treated cast steel having a minimum tensile strength of 120,000 psi.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 6, when lifting hook 24 of the present invention is used with an ASA fitting, the downwardly extending protrusion 40 of the hook is aligned with lifting hole 22 and corner fitting 20 and the hook is pushed into the fitting until flat hook side 36 rests against the side of the container. After all four hooks have been so inserted, the hoist is actuated. Each hook moves upwardly along the container wall until upper lifting hole end 26 rests on groove bottom 48. At that point, flat body side 36 and flat groove side 50 straddle inner side 52 and outer side 54 of the ASA fitting. Movement in an axial shaft direction is thus prevented and the hook is positively retained to the corner fitting until it can move downwardly relative to the corner fitting or until the container rests on an independent support and is no longer suspended from the hooks.

If the hook of the present invention is used in conjunction with an ISO fitting,.it is inserted in the lifting hole in the above described manner. Once a load is applied to the hook, the inclination of the steel cable from the vertical pivots the hook about the shaft axis into the inclined position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 5. It will be noted that the substantial thickness of the ISO corner fitting provides a bearing surface between upper end 26 of the lifting hole and the portion of stub shaft 34 outward of groove 46.

The pivotal motion of the hook pivots flat side 44 of protrusion 40 behind inner side 56 of the corner fitting adjacent the lifting hole. Thus, the flat protrusion side and the flat body side 36 again straddle the corner fitting and prevent movements of the hook in an axial stub direction. Consequently, as soon as a load is applied to the hook disposed in the lifting hole of an ISO fitting, the hook is positively locked or retained to the fitting.

It will be noted that the functioning of a hook constructed in accordance with the present invention and particularly its locking to the corner fitting when a vertical load is applied is automatic irrespective of which type of corner fitting is utilized on the container. The present invention not only eliminates the need for hoisting gear change-overs, but eliminates the need for first observing the container to determine the fitting with which it is provided. Thus, the hook of the present invention provides increased safety and substantial time saving in loading and unloading cargo containers.

I claim:

1. A container lifting hood for engaging an opening in a container corner fitting, the comer fitting having one of two different, presdetermined thicknesses at the opening, the hook comprising a main body for connection to a lifting device, a substantially cylindrical member extending transversely away from the body, and a nose projecting essentially parallel to the body away from an end of the shaft, the nose having an elongate configuration and a smaller periphery than the opening, the spacing between the nose and the body exceeding the greater one of said thicknesses, and a groove radially recessed into the shaft and extending over a portion of the shaft length, the groove having a generally circularly arcuate bottom surface extending over less than 360 and a radius substantially equal to a radius of the shaft, the groove having a width exceeding the smaller one of said thicknesses, whereby the hook can be employed for lifting containers having corner fittings with either one of the thicknesses while the nose or the groove automatically engages a portion of the corner fitting and thereby positively locks the hook to the container.

2. A hook according to claim 1 wherein the groove is disposed immediately adjacent the main body, and wherein the bottom surface faces in the opposite direction from the nose and'is symmetrical with respect to the body. I

3. A cargo container hook for lifting large cargo containers having container corner fittings with elongate lift holes having circularly arcuate ends at least at the upper hole ends, the corner fitting alternatively having a relatively thin wall or a relatively thick wall, the hook comprising an elongate main body'including means for connecting an upper end of the body to a lifting cable, the body having a substantially planar surface for positioning against the container, shaft means protruding perpendicularly to the surface from the body at a lower body end, the shaft means having a radius substantially equal to the radius of the upper hole end and an eccentric cut-out in an upper half of the shaft means defining a depressed, substantially circularly arcuate surface extending over less than 360 and having a radius substantially equal to the radius of the upper hole end, the cutout further having a width slightly greater than the thin wall, and means associated with the shaft means for engaging a surface of a corner fitting having a thick wall inwardly of the opening, whereby the same hook can be employed for safely lifting containers with either one of the corner fittings since a cut-out defining wall or the surface engaging means automatically engages the fitting when a hoisting force is applied to the hook and the shaft means is operatively disposed within the hole.

4. A hook according to claim 3 wherein the surface engaging means comprises a protrusion depending in a downward direction with respect to the main body from the shaft means, the protrusion having a width no greater than the width of the hole and a spacing from the planar surface slightly greater than the thickness of the greater relatively thick wall.

5. Hook according to claim 3 wherein the cut-out is disposed immediately adjacent the planar surface.

6. Apparatus for lifting standard ocean cargo containers having an ASA or ISO standard corner fitting with a vertically oriented opening for engaging the container, the apparatus comprising at least four container engaging and lifting hooks, each hook comprising a main body, a area for placement against the container, a stud projecting transversely from the area and disposed at the lower end of the hook, the stub having a first circularly arcuate surface extending over at least about for engaging the opening in an ASA corner fitting and a second circularly arcuate surface extending over at least 180 for engaging the opening in an ISO corner fitting, the first and second circularly arcuate surfaces being eccentric with respect to each other and having like radii so that one of the surfaces is lower than the other one, the lower arcuate surface being arranged immediately adjacent the area of the hook, a lifting member for each hook connected to an upper end of the hook, means for connecting the lifting members to a hoist, and means connected to the hook for automatically engaging an inner side of either one of the corner fittings in response to relative movements between the hook and the fitting to securely retain the hook to the corner fitting while the container is lifted and render the apparatus simultaneously usable with cargo containers having either one of the fittings.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the engaging means comprises axially spaced faces disposed perpendicular to a stub axis.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the axially spaced face proximate the area of the hook is defined by a groove, the groove having a-circularly arcuate bottom surface defining said lowerarcuate surface, the bottom surface facing in an upward direction and being positioned symmetric with respect to the main body, the groove further having a width slightly greater than the thickness of an ASA corner fitting at the opening.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the axially spaced face relatively remote from the area of the hook is defined by a protrusionextending downwardly from the stub, the remote face being opposite and parallel to the area of the hook, the spacing between the remote face and the area being slightly greater than an ISO corner fitting thickness at the lifting hole. 

1. A container lifting hood for engaging an opening in a container corner fitting, the corner fitting having one of two different, pre-determined thicknesses at the opening, the hook comprising a main body for connection to a lifting device, a substantially cylindrical member extending transversely away from the body, and a nose projecting essentially parallel to the body away from an end of the shaft, the nose having an elongate configuration and a smaller periphery than the opening, the spacing between the nose and the body exceeding the greater one of said thicknesses, and a groove radially recessed into the shaft and extending over a portion of the shaft length, the groove having a generally circularly arcuate bottom surface extending over less than 360* and a radius substantially equal to a radius of the shaft, the groove having a width exceeding the smaller one of said thicknesses, whereby the hook can be employed for lifting containers having corner fittings with either one of the thicknesses while the nose or the groove automatically engages a portion of the corner fitting and thereby positively locks the hook to the container.
 2. A hook according to claim 1 wherein the groove is disposed immediately adjacent the main body, and wherein the bottom surface faces in the opposite direction from the nose and is symmetrical with respect to the body.
 3. A cargo container hook for lifting large cargo containers having container corner fittings with elongate lift holes having circularly arcuate ends at least at the upper hole ends, the corner fitting alternatively having a relatively thin wall or a relatively thick wall, the hook comprising an elongate main body including means for connecting an upper end of the body to a lifting cable, the body having a substantially planar surface for positioning against the container, shaft means protruding perpendicularly to the surface from the body at a lower body end, the shaft means having a radius substantially equal to the radius of the upper hole end and an eccentric cut-out in an upper half of the shaft means defining a depressed, substantially circularly arcuate surface extending over less Than 360* and having a radius substantially equal to the radius of the upper hole end, the cut-out further having a width slightly greater than the thin wall, and means associated with the shaft means for engaging a surface of a corner fitting having a thick wall inwardly of the opening, whereby the same hook can be employed for safely lifting containers with either one of the corner fittings since a cut-out defining wall or the surface engaging means automatically engages the fitting when a hoisting force is applied to the hook and the shaft means is operatively disposed within the hole.
 4. A hook according to claim 5 wherein the surface engaging means comprises a protrusion depending in a downward direction with respect to the main body from the shaft means, the protrusion having a width no greater than the width of the hole and a spacing from the planar surface slightly greater than the thickness of the greater relatively thick wall.
 5. Hook according to claim 5 wherein the cut-out is disposed immediately adjacent the planar surface.
 6. Apparatus for lifting standard ocean cargo containers having an ASA or ISO standard corner fitting with a vertically oriented opening for engaging the container, the apparatus comprising at least four container engaging and lifting hooks, each hook comprising a main body, a area for placement against the container, a stud projecting transversely from the area and disposed at the lower end of the hook, the stub having a first circularly arcuate surface extending over at least about 180* for engaging the opening in an ASA corner fitting and a second circularly arcuate surface extending over at least 180* for engaging the opening in an ISO corner fitting, the first and second circularly arcuate surfaces being eccentric with respect to each other and having like radii so that one of the surfaces is lower than the other one, the lower arcuate surface being arranged immediately adjacent the area of the hook, a lifting member for each hook connected to an upper end of the hook, means for connecting the lifting members to a hoist, and means connected to the hook for automatically engaging an inner side of either one of the corner fittings in response to relative movements between the hook and the fitting to securely retain the hook to the corner fitting while the container is lifted and render the apparatus simultaneously usable with cargo containers having either one of the fittings.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the engaging means comprises axially spaced faces disposed perpendicular to a stub axis.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the axially spaced face proximate the area of the hook is defined by a groove, the groove having a circularly arcuate bottom surface defining said lower arcuate surface, the bottom surface facing in an upward direction and being positioned symmetric with respect to the main body, the groove further having a width slightly greater than the thickness of an ASA corner fitting at the opening.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the axially spaced face relatively remote from the area of the hook is defined by a protrusion extending downwardly from the stub, the remote face being opposite and parallel to the area of the hook, the spacing between the remote face and the area being slightly greater than an ISO corner fitting thickness at the lifting hole. 